Riot Fest announces relocation to suburban Bridgeview, releases 2024 lineup

Chicago’s popular rock-centric music festival Riot Fest announced its plans to relocate to Bridgeview for the 2024 festival, after being held at North Lawndale’s Douglass Park for nearly a decade.  The move follows years of discord between event organizers, members of the surrounding community, and the Chicago Parks District.

In an statement released Tuesday night, Riot Fest owner and co-founder Mike Petryshyn confirmed that the festival will leave Douglass Park, and announced its new location dubbed “Riotland”. The festival officially confirmed the new festival grounds will be located at SeatGeek Stadium on Wednesday morning.

Petryshyn attributed the move to the organization's inability to rmaintain an agreement on the event with the Chicago Parks District. In the statement, Petryshyn emphasized that event organizers aim to uphold their connection to the Chicago community despite the move.

“We’re not abandoning the community here…we’re taking them on this journey as well,” Petryshyn stated, adding “Though our doors may have closed on Douglass Park, another has opened.”

The organization also released the official Riot Fest 2024 lineup on Wednesday morning, with headliners including Fall Out Boy, St. Vincent, Beck, and Slayer. The festival will run from September 20-22. View the full lineup and learn more information by visiting the festival’s official site.

It remains unclear how the move will affect the festival’s attendance, but Chicagoans have taken to social media to express mixed opinions on the matter. Some have championed the move as a win for North Lawndale residents, who felt the festival disrupted life in the community during its three-day run.

Others have expressed disappointment, noting that the festival brings a large amount of revenue for the city of Chicago as a whole, and serves as a platform for local art, food, and businesses.